


For Three Years, I Had Roses

by seepingout



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-23
Updated: 2014-06-23
Packaged: 2018-02-05 21:09:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1832359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seepingout/pseuds/seepingout





	For Three Years, I Had Roses

It's not about the ankle.

She's healed now and 100%. She may not be setting beep test records but she's still the best.

It's the politics. Pia liked her, Tom liked her, Jill ... doesn't? She'd felt secure, she'd played every minute of the Olympics, won gold, kept her allocation status, her star was on the rise, she'd gotten a major sponsorship from Under Armour.

But she's sitting on a bench. She'd been named a forward, far more precarious a position than left back. She's heard the rumours, hears the whispers still. Cox is back and Engen is now in favour, but no one likes them in that role. The team likes them, but no one else seems to. She hates to think it, she likes them both, but she can't help agreeing that they're not up to the job. She'd always been a forward, had wanted to earn a national team spot as a forward, but it's obvious that that isn't what's happened here. Two goals does not a star forward make. And the timing, just as Alex is back, is enough to convince her this is a way of subtly shifting her off the team. At left back she has little real competition, at forward she's just not up to snuff. She used to be, but politics at the youth level pushed her out then too. 

She'd learned her lesson then but now, as then, she's powerless to do anything. Chalupny is proof of that. Lori is good, one of the best, but politics kicked her out using concussions as an excuse. Will her ankle be the one they use for her?

The worst part is she doesn't even know what she's done. Was it at the youth level, where Jill used to have power? Is there something lingering from those days? Or is it something larger? Tymrak's not even been called up, relegated back to the youth teams. 

It's obviously Jill. She came back from recovery under Tom and everything was fine, now it is decidedly not. She puts on a brave face, a convincing enough front that no one notices, but she worries. She doesn't want her dreams killed because one woman happens to not like her. She had a taste of that already, missing the youth world cup, she doesn't want to miss this one.

It's why she's gone back to her bible. She's never been blatant or outspoken about her faith, not like Tobin, but she's started praying about it so much that posting the picture on Instagram seemed natural. 

Her best hope, maybe her only chance. is to play so well for Sky Blue that US Soccer insists she continue to play for them, overrides Jill, and gets her back on the pitch. She has the skills and athleticism and form, she just needs to put that all to work, in over drive, through the rest of the season. She has to stay healthy, focused, and in top shape.

She can't give them an excuse.


End file.
